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Exclusionary Practices Case Study

Decent Essays

The United States is the most racially diverse nation in world history. The United States draws its strength from this diversity. The contribution of individuals of every race, ethnicity, religion and socio-economic background has built America into the world’s most powerful nation. And, yet, racial, ethnic and socio-economic strife that derives from misunderstanding and ignorance remains the nation’s most intractable problem. As a result, demagogues, nationalists, and other bigoted individuals and organizations are able to exploit this misunderstanding to promote hate-filled, exclusionary, and repressive policies and agendas. This cycle repeats itself during each national election cycle, and can be seen as the basis for the rise of groups …show more content…

Using the sociological concept of the other as a theoretical framework to analyze the efficacy of efforts to reduce racial, ethnic, and economic isolation in hyper-segregated White high schools, we conclude that these efforts are at best ineffective, and at worse reinforce the negative stereotypes and mental models that contribute to a deficient and inaccurate sense of the other. In a perfect world, Connecticut’s legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government would recognize and address the pernicious impact of maintaining a system of public school districts that use the force of law associated with district residency requirements to create racially hyper-segregated public schools. This issue could easily be fixed by creating new, racially balanced school districts, or by making every public school in Connecticut a school of choice. It is unclear if there is a political will to undertake this bold action. It is also unclear whether parents and property owners would support this direct action by electing politicians who support these policy changes. It must be assumed that for the foreseeable future Connecticut will maintain racially hyper-segregated public schools. Therefore, efforts to reduce racial, ethnic and economic isolation will remain the providence of hyper-segregated White high

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